Like any girl of her age ten year old Atina was curious to learn. She wanted to know why the sky was blue and high, wanted to know how it feels to have wings, wanted to know why fishes swim and pigs do not, these and many more. However, what she really wanted to know with all her curiosity was the ‘Golden Mecheben’. That day was going to be different for her for she was in her uncle’s house, the big house where she always felt like a princess. Sometimes she felt less fortunate not to have cousins, anyway she liked the attention that surrounded her. She was like the hole and the rest of her family was like the dough.
While touring the big bungalow, she was taken aback by the high ceiling and well structured walls, which she failed to notice when she was younger. What got her full attention was the picture hang on the pale wall. It was a black and white picture, in the picture stood her uncle- the proud owner of the house, her grand uncle, her dad who was then seven years old for sure and her great grandpa, the picture was completed by the presence of a lady. A lady who was very radiant, she had never seen her before. She wanted to know who that lady was. She took the help of the chair to take out the frame from the wall.
Atina: Uncle, who is this lady? She pointed at the lady in the picture.
Uncle Benju: She was the gift. Come and sit near me Atina.
Atina: Gift for whom? She sat near her uncle.
Uncle Benju: Nothing was sweet about that December... (Begins to narrate)
Nothing was sweet about that December, yet it gave us the gift of a life time- a gift to cherish forever. Cold winds blew bitterly in the lazy town of Kohima. The windows of the Ozukum’s house rattled giving a spooky effect to the old house. Inside there was a young man of eighteen years on his most comfortable chair, heavily engrossed in the game of chess with his grandpa. Little Imcha, the seven years old prince of the house was complaining about the clove in his mouth which grandpa had given to ease his toothache. His complains could have stopped only if someone had appreciated his sketch book, his dream was to become an artist.
Then the phone rang,
Grandpa: Seriously, we don’t need a house maid. Pause. We share our household chores. Pause. Okay, send her tomorrow.
Grandpa: The wife of Colonel Temsu says that sixty-five is not a wise age to cook, mob the floor, water the plants and do the laundries. I told her that we share our household chores but she thinks that my stubbornness might kill me. She is right most of the time so I agreed to what she said. Plus, I took pity on the young girl, she is from a very poor family, she had no formal education, I hope her search for a decent living ends here.
So, came the next day. Little Imcha came panting,
Imcha: Grandpa, grandpa there is a man looking for you.
Grandpa glanced at his watch and looked amuse.
Grandpa: Who will it be? Today is Sunday; if I entertain any guest then I will be late for the sermon. Let it be God’s will though. (Got up from the chair and marched towards the porch)
Anyone could have mistaken it for a man. Our new Helper was 6' feet and had a light moustache, tan skin and unruly hair, may be like her spirit. As an addition, Naga girls are like little angels, she was a giant.
Grandpa: So, you are here to help us. The cook will show you your room. I will get back to you after I return from the Church.
She nodded her head.
The sermon took longer than usual. Little Imcha dozed off; his elder brother chuckled gently looking at him. When they returned back, grandpa kept his Bible down in the round table along with his old wrist watch. After the lunch, he knocked the door of the girl. Five knocks but no answer, six knock and the door opened..
Helper: I was sleeping; the sunlight is pleasant in here.
Grandpa: So, what are you good at? So to say what could you like to do- cooking, laundry, or gardening?
Helper: Actually, I am fit for nothing.
Grandpa: Then, why are you here? (Her honesty made him smile, yet he took care that she did not notice it)
Helper: We are ten of us, my brother is a local constable but his knee injury has made him bed ridden, my mother is a widow, my father is dead.
Grandpa: Oh! How sad, may God have mercy on you and your family members. But, don’t make this story gain you a sympathy vote.
Helper: But, you just asked me why I am here?
Grandpa: I wanted to hear what are you good at, cooking, laundry or gardening?
Helper: I eat whatever my mother cooks, I don’t know what meat should taste like or a soya soup should smell like. I think; I will be better in laundry for I love the smell of the detergents and gardening too for I love the smell of the soil.
Grandpa: Okay, that was a good explanation, laundry and gardening from tomorrow. Yes, the sun is pleasant (He walked out).
As the days passed by, her work load became more and more. She hardly interacted with anyone and that was mutual. The cook thought that she was very hardworking but slow in following instructions; grandpa thought that she is a woman of few words and obedient to the core, the elder son thought that she is a human robot, expressionless face, does what she is said to do. Little Imcha wanted her as his playmate. She learned the daily routine of the family members, but what fascinated her most was the way they assembled after the family dinner for an evening prayer. She quietly listened to Bible memory versus read out by grandpa from her room which was adjacent to the big living room.
One evening while she was watering the plants, little Imcha walked up to her and made the first conversation..
Little Imcha: I will be taller then you.
Helper: You will be..
Little Imcha: My uncle is coming from Delhi today and he is going to bring lots of toy for me.
The Helper: That’s why you are excited; I can see the joy on your face.
Little Imcha: But, I won’t share it with you. You are not my friend.
The Helper: When I was your age I did not have any toys to play with, the piglet was my toy but I had lots of friends. I can be your friend.
Little Imcha: Do you know how to make a catapult? I have to go now, my tuition teacher will be really annoyed if I am not on time.
Yes, she did know how to make a catapult and she had one in her trunk which she planned to give to the one who was so much like her younger brothers- restless and inquisitive.
Little Imcha's beloved uncle returned from Delhi.
Uncle: Why is the tea so usual?
Grandpa: We have a new maid.
Uncle: And she does not know the taste of sugar and salt, what joy.
Grandpa: Get use to it. She is an exception.
Uncle did not like the way clothes were hung neither do he liked the way she watered the plant.
Uncle: Tell the helper of ours to hung the pants and the shirts separately, tell her something about dyes too and do let her know that she wastes half of our capital’s water in watering the plants.
Grandpa: No, son you tell her. I want to be God’s mouth piece not of Tom, Dick and Harry.
Uncle: Since when have I become ordinary?
Grandpa: You are getting late for the College.
When he walked out from the front door, he saw the helper whistling while making rose beds with a hoe.
Uncle: Listen, I have certain instructions for you. Number one, I do not like the way you hung the clothes and number two, you waste tons of water for the sake of plants which I find illogical and it really irks me.
{The Helper glances at his eyes just for once and shied away. When he walks towards the gate, the Helper truly agrees to herself that he is the most beautiful creature she had laid her eyes upon. Although, older than her; she is fascinated by his ways, which the cook had described as ‘moody’.}
Imcha's elder brother, who was of the Helper’s age found her amusing, thought that she was a strange creature in deed. He loved to laugh when she chased cockerels for dinner and the way she got hyper exited when taking her seat in the car for shopping. On one of the rare days his friends came to visit him, and as their luck could have it the cook was absent that day. The Helper served the tea, all his friends stopped for she conquered like a warrior. When she left the drawing room, he knew what to say……
The older boy: Don’t say anything. She is our new Helper. I know she is ugly like a village pig, but she is not lazy like a flying balloon.
Friends: She is so calm, a quality hard to find in maids.
The older boy: For your information she is also good in chasing cockerels, a quality hardest to find in maids.
On one of the occasions, she was seated next to the older boy in the car.
The older Boy: You don’t talk much, don’t you?
Helper: I do talk, but my mother instructed me to work more and talk less so to be liked by my employers.
The older Boy: Do you like working at Ozukum’s home?
Helper: One month and two weeks went fine.
While stepping out from the car,
The older Boy: Gosh, you are tall.
Helper: Everyone says so. She blushed.
When the Summer showed its radiant face, Kohima was pleasant for all the residents. The older Boy was utterly sorry for the preconceptions he had earlier made of the Helper. She was good in carrying out orders and instructions yet she was not a robot, she was like one of them, she was someone with emotions. Also, the older boy had arrived at an age where the emotions stirred into different thoughts and actions. He was badly infatuated with a girl in his Choral group, the problem was he had no single trustworthy friend to share it with. Many a nights he wrote poems hoping to shower it upon her, but all in vain. Uncle Tali who often came across the poems scribbled on the fair pages of the table, could smirk and agree that it was a common tragedy, for when a person not a boy nor yet a man is hit by the arrows of love turns into a poet, a saint or a lunatic.
The older boy found refuge in the Helper, who was of his age.
The older boy: I like a girl in my class.
Helper: Grandpa will not be very pleased to hear that.
The older boy: It does not mean that I don’t concentrate on my studies.
Helper: So, about the girl?
The older boy: Yes, I like her and I don’t know how to convey my feelings to her.
Helper: Oh, that won’t be tough. I can bring her to you.
The older boy: I know you can. Laughs
The older boy wondered what she was planning to do, gave him tips or try to be friend with the object of his affection, though she could be bad at both. He wanted to wait and see what plans she could come up with while he studied for his medical entrance exam. But, on the next day to his utter surprise the house was filled with the screams of a girl.
The older boy: Lenti, what are you doing here? I mean, I am pleased to see you.
Lentina: I don’t know what I am doing here. This giant dragged me all the way from school.
Helper: I didn’t drag her; I brought her in my cycle. When I told her gently to come alone with me, she made fun of me.
Lentina: Yes, I did, who won’t?
Helper: He has something to say. I am leaving you two alone.
Lentina: What is it? Say it fast.
When alone, he cleared his throat, felt extremely nervous
The older boy: You have a beautiful voice and hair.…
Lentina: I know it right; tell me something I don’t know.
The older boy: Well for long I wanted to say that I admire you a lot and could want to know how you feel about me?
Lentina: Laughs. Thin like a fading dream, and nose like a bolder.
The older boy: Thanks. Anything more?
Lentina: A very pitiable boy indeed.
The older boy: Lenti you are full of pride, I have never seen this sight of yours.
Lentina: I have to after all I am endowed with perfections.
The older boy: Then you deserve to walk out from this room.
When Lentina walked out of the room, he compared Lentina and the Helper, same species yet so different.
On one of the rainy days, the Helper was asked to pick up little Imcha from the school. He hopped and jumped, splashing the muddy water on the Helper…
Helper: Get inside the umbrella. You might get sick.
Got inside the umbrella, yet complained
Little Imcha: Why is everyone afraid of rain? Grandpa, elder brother, uncle and you.
Helper: Maybe, the rest of us know that there will be no one to take care of us if we get sick.
Little Imcha: I will take care of you if you every get sick.
The Helper: I will keep that in mind.
That night little Imcha got sick. Everyone took shift to nurse him, uncle Tali called the Helper…
Uncle: I heard that you have lots of younger brothers and sisters.
Helper: Yes I have.
Uncle: Yet, you don’t know how to take care of one. His exam is knocking at the door, how could you not handle a child?
Grandpa (came with the tray and handed it over to the Helper): Come on son this is not the first time your nephew is sick. He will be fine by tomorrow. Now, both of you get some sleep.
A week later while the Cook and the Helper were peeling yams, they engage in a conversation about the family.
The cook: Little Imcha’s mother died when he was one year old, the following year his father died in a car accident leaving him and his elder brother. Uncle Tali, decided to remain a confirm bachelor and look after his two nephews. Old grandpa, he is such a strong man of God, full of unshakable faith filled with love.
Helper: Yes, we are very lucky to work for them.
Meanwhile, the older guy who came down to ask for tea feels delighted after secretly hearing the conversation, walked up the room without ordering the tea. As the weeks passed by the older boy and the Helper’s friendship bloomed. He became aware of the Helper’s infatuation on his uncle, and to add to his conclusion one fine morning out of his window he saw her gently smelling uncle Tali’s shirt which hung in the lawns. He was glad at the thought that he knew what she might be thinking while lost in the smell of the fresh detergent that, long ago grandpa was lucky to have someone to smell his shirt and in coming years little Imcha’s shirt could be tenderly touched by someone.
The older boy: Anyway, is there anyone in the whole of Nagaland whom you are in love with? I mean you have reached a good age to think about it.
Helper: My mother said that I have reached a marriageable age. But, I told her I will only marry a man like your uncle.
The older Boy: Highly infatuated with him ha.
Helper: He has certain qualities that I like.
The older Boy: Grandpa considers him to be very blunt which unintentionally hurts people.
Helper: I think he gets annoyed at the fact that I am clumsy.
The older Boy: Forget it. He is twenty years older than you.
Helper: And he is my employer. She laughs.
As the timing could have had it, grandpa was in a good mood of storytelling to anyone who wanted to listen. That night the older guy and the Helper were the listeners. The older guy being aware of what the Helper will be interested in, requested grandpa to reveal the reason why his uncle never got married…
The older boy: Is it of us that he never got married?
Grandpa: That’s what you think, but he is no fool to let marriage effect the love he has for you. The things are more complicated then it seems to be.
The older boy: Such as?
Grandpa: He did had a very long affair.
In unison the older boy and the Helper: Really?
Grandpa: She was from a noble family; she wanted to live a sophisticated life which my son never dream off.
The older boy: Then?
Grandpa: They broke off; she married a man of her type. Your uncle is someone who does not believe in love after love. That was ten years ago though.
Helper: That’s so funny (laughs)
The older Boy: What’s so funny?
Helper: That he knows the feeling of being alone.
Uncle walked up to them; he had heard what was being said of him. He, being a private person did not like what was being so expressively said by grandpa…
Uncle: Respected Pastor, I don’t want you to share my personal details with everyone.
Grandpa: Everyone? My son, I share it with only persons I know and have trust.
Uncle: You have great faith in that helper of ours?
Grandpa: Yes, she has proved herself to be very trustworthy.
Uncle: Tell me when she turns out to be one of the scandal mongers; I will be delighted to hear it.
Helper: I am sorry to disappoint you. That will never happen again…she walked away.
Grandpa: You hurt her a lot.
{When grandpa and the uncle left, the room becomes quiet. Swallowed in deep thoughts, the older boy shrinks on the couch and thought of why the people whom we loves the most hurts us the most…}
Next day, he was woken up by the Uncle. While having his breakfast he joins him, before he left the table he closed his wrist button and said
Uncle: The feelings that she has for me is just like a wave, a tidal wave, higher and highest will it grow, but in a moment it will gushed and level down with the shore. She will be fine again. Don’t be so baffled.
On the Thanks Giving Sunday, the grandpa had to deliver a sermon but he could not make it on time. His usual backache got worse that he was bedridden for weeks. No one could detect what exactly was the cause of his sickness; neither the doctors nor the local physician. All he did was pray while laying flat on the bed, the family members could watch him in dismay…so did the Helper…
All the nearer and dearer ones of Ozukum’s family looked for an answer; they wanted the remedy, a remedy that could heal their beloved pastor. But all their faith and hope became to shake when the Pastor’s health weaken from bad to worse. Deep down inside everyone knew the answer to the cure and the cure was death. They had well adjusted with the fact that only death could subside his pains, and everyone was ready to accept it except someone……
Little Imcha: Is there no medicine to cure grandpa?
The older boy: That’s what I heard.
Helper: Maybe, there is. Maybe, we are not trying too hard to find it.
Little Imcha: My friend’s grandmother said that in Mount Saramati there grows a bunch of golden Mecheben on the tallest of tree, it has the power to cure all sickness, all incurable disease in this world, it takes away pain, it sustains life.
The older Boy: What's rubbish, what is the proof that it is true, where is the proof that it really exist?
Helper: Where is the proof that it doesn’t exist, where is the proof that it is not true?
The older Boy: Okay, even if there is who will go there and pluck it for him. Who will go to that extend?
The Helper was awake the whole night, she could not sleep for the gratitude that she had for the family made her indebted. She was ready to go to the extreme most to save grandpa’s life. If there was anything called Golden Mecheben that could save grandpa’s life, then she was ready to bring it down from the highest of mountains, she was ready to climb up Saramati, yes she was. She pondered what she was going to lose if ever there was no such thing called ‘the Golden Mecheben’, nothing; she was going to lose nothing.
Helper: I want leave, leave for three weeks.
Uncle: How can you ask for leave?
Helper: I have worked days and nights, I did my best. I deserve some rest, I have my parents, I have my sisters and brothers.
Uncle: I know that, and I solely agree that you deserve a long leave but this is not the right time, you know we need you. We need you….but who am I to stop you, your real employer is sick on the bed.
{She gives a glance at the house for the last time before she departs for the mission, the mission for which she believed she was born. She was sad that she had not said her short good bye to anyone, not to grandpa, or the Older boy, or to Little Imcha or the Cook..but hoped to see them soon…}
Ten days after the New Year’s Day, the older boy and his brother goes to her native place to meet her. However they were told that she was not there, and that all the while her mother thought that she was with the Ozukum. Her mother breaks down thinking that she had malign the family’s name by eloping. And that if it was so then whenever she returns she should be conveyed with the news that she is no more her daughter. The older boy and his brother sadly returned….
It was a bright sunny day, the ray of the sun shined on the roof of Ozukum’s house like a blessing from above. The gate made its usual sound indicating the welcoming of a guest, little Imcha took long steps from his room to say that the Helper has come; he had seen her from the window. Everyone in the house rushed….
For a moment everyone stood still. She looked so weak, dirty, and weary, badly in need of rest and care. In her hands were some wild yellow flowers, which she held with so much of attention...
Uncle: So, you are back.
The older boy: Where were you? We searched for you every possible corner.
Little Imcha: I missed you.
The cook: Want some water?
Helper: I went all the way to Pongru, to climb up Saramati, to bring the healing flower- the Golden Mecheben. And this is it (she showed them).
They all say in unison: What?
Helper: Yes, this is the Golden Mecheben (she lifted up the Mecheben).
Uncle: We are really honored to know that you walked the distance for our family, but it was a very stupid thing to do. Your room is as clean as the last time you saw it, now freshen up and join us for lunch (walked inside the house).
The older boy: Grandpa passed away (looked down).
Helper: When?
The older boy: Three days after you left.
The Helper breaks down, yells and cries, the older boy goes forward to give her comforting arms…..
Helper: What took me so long? I wish I could make it on time.
The older boy: When we told grandpa about your departure, then there was a smile on his face, he said that he knew exactly where you were going.
After some hours the lunch was laid down but there was no sign of the Helper. Little Imcha went to wake her up; she was seen sleeping like a log, the older guy came up and tell little Imcha to let her take rest as long as she wants. The dusk sat in; uncle Tali went to the verandah and picked up the so called Golden Mecheben. He smiled for the same flowers grew like mushrooms in the forest surrounding his college. But, whatever it was he realized that they had found a Golden Mecheben in her, she was their Golden Mecheben. A Helper so true, so obedient, so loyal and so compassionate, he hurried to her room to tell her that he has been wrong all this while about her and how his heart was filled with gratitude….
Uncle: Devoted one, please wake up (He stood near her bed)
He called out her name but to no avail, she was there like a stone. He gently shook her but she laid there motionless, that moment a careless breeze fan his face, it rang a bell on his head. Their Golden Mecheben had left them; she had left them to be united with grandpa…
The Cook (from behind): She for sure went to meet grandpa to apologize for being late.
Uncle: She was kinder than we deserve.
The older Boy: Many years had rolled, there came and went by lots of helper but there was no one like her. She was the best one we had, the energy, the loyalty and the sincerity she had was no match to anyone. Our uncle Tali passed away two years ago, the only thing he regretted in his life time was the moment when he said to our Helper that she being a woman was a 'frail creature'. For, what she taught to uncle Tali and to us was; moral courage is above physical courage and that it can be possess by anyone yet love was above everything else.
When Benju Ozukum finished the story, there are un-shed tears in Atina’s eyes. She understood now who the Golden Mecheben was and why the Ozukum’s family hold her so dear.
Little Imcha: Give your uncle some time to rest.
Atina Ozukum: Sure. Uncle Benju, I will take a stroll in the garden with Papa.
Uncle Benju: Go ahead my dear.
Little Imcha: See you in an hour dear brother.
The older boy was left alone in the drawing room, many a days he was lost in the memories of his loved ones, but today he blazed in the memories of the Golden Mecheben. He evaporated himself with a question- what if the Helper was alive today, what could she be doing? And the answer was simple, she could be doing the thing she loved most….to love the people who were in need of love.
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